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Adventure Time: Hey Ice King soundtrack now on streaming
The entirety of Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!'s phenomenal pseudo-chiptune power-pop soundtrack is now streaming on D3Publisher's official Soundcloud account, which means that all 83 minutes of Jake Kaufman's exceptional work on the game can now be enjoyed for free.While the majority of the 34 track album is instrumental, some songs (such as Marceline's boss theme and the beginning/ending themes) are fitting vocal tributes to the source material, which is already famous for having catchy, endearing music.There is one small catch, which is that the soundtrack isn't actually for sale or available to download, and therefore must be enjoyed in-browser. This basically ruins our plans to drive around town blasting Party in the Clouds, but we'll take what we can get at this point.
Adventure Time review: Hey Ice King, why'd you steal my heart?
Adventure Time is one of the very best things on television. Its adorable characters, hilarious dialogue and surprisingly complex and storied mythology set it apart from the vast majority of "children's" entertainment out there. Other programs like Regular Show may be roughly as funny, but Adventure Time's contemporaries often lack its poignant subtext and stellar character development.Needless to say, I love Adventure Time dearly. So, when I first heard about WayForward's Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?! for the DS and 3DS, my initial reaction was one of both joy and concern. I want there to be a game for my favorite cartoon, of course, but "portable game based on a Cartoon Network property" isn't usually a phrase that inspires confidence.Well, be confident. Hey Ice King isn't going to win any awards for innovative design, but the soul of the show is present in gratuitous quantities.%Gallery-168686%
'Shantae and the Pirate's Curse' coming to 3DS eShop
WayForward's half-genie mascot Shantae returns in a new downloadable 3DS game, revealed in the penultimate issue of Nintendo Power. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse has the now fully human Shantae teaming up with the pirate Risky Boots, who has just the best name, to find the 30 Tinkerbats who have stolen Shantae's genie powers.As a result of her de-geniefication, Shantae relies on "Pirate Gear" she finds in labyrinths, instead of dance powers, to gain new abilities and access new locales. The Bone Daggers, for example, can be thrown into walls to make footholds.You can see a few screens on Nintendo Power's preview page, but to see more you should consider buying the actual magazine.
Silent Hill Book of Memories review: A dramatic rewrite
Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a lot like the town of Silent Hill, in that your experience with it depends on what you bring in, emotionally. In Silent Hill the town that means you're tormented by monsters based on your worst fears; in Book of Memories it means that your expectations can color the experience.Basically, if you go in knowing it's a dungeon crawler with Silent Hill visuals, you'll be much happier than if you go in expecting a Silent Hill game. In either case, you'll get killed by a two-headed dog monster at some point.%Gallery-166900%
Double Dragon Neon's rad awesome soundtrack available for free
Dave totally freaked out about Double Dragon Neon's soundtrack in his review, going as far as to deem it his favorite part of the game. It's true, the music has some real crunk beats. It's a mega jam of 80s happening hip, and we happen to think it's boss.So how radical is it that its composer, Jake Kaufman, just made the entire soundtrack available for free? Yes, it's very awesome radical.All 45 tracks from the PSN/XBLA game can be found on Kaufman's site. While they can be downloaded at no cost, it would be hella bunk of us to not say that you can send some money Jake's way by naming your price. Fresh!
Shantae: Risky's Revenge attempting tri-platform with Steam Greenlight
WayForward, the developer behind adorable DSiWare and iOS game Shantae: Risky's Revenge, wants to get this thing on Steam, and it's using Greenlight to do so. You may recognize WayForward as the team behind the Adventure Time game for DS, as well as BloodRayne: Retrayal and Double Dragon Neon.Shantae: Risky's Revenge is the highest-rated DS game of 2011 and WayForward has a slick track record, making this particular project both believable and desirable. Check out the Greenlight page right here.
Konami PAX 2012 gallery megapost: Metal Gear Rising, Castlevania, Silent Hill and more
The ancient game developer's tradition of distributing a massive pile of media assets during a conference is a sacred, time-honored trust that Konami is well aware of, hence the four galleries of brand spankin' new screenshots you see before you.The images represent the latest look at Kojima and Platinum Games' slicing simulator Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while the three galleries beyond the veil represent the same for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Silent Hill: Book of Memories and New Little King's Story.%Gallery-164083%
Development timeline: Silent Hill Book of Memories
Last year, we got our first look at Silent Hill: Book of Memories, a PlayStation Vita game that inspires curiosity, to say the least. As a top-down, multiplayer Silent Hill, it's an oddity among horror games and among Silent Hills.We wanted to know more about how this unusual game came to be, so we went to publisher Konami and developer WayForward to get some insight on the development process behind Book of Memories. The two companies responded with a surprisingly detailed development timeline for Silent Hill: Book of Memories, and a wealth of never-before-seen images from throughout the process, including screenshots of a PC demo WayForward put together to convince Konami they were the right team for the job. We've also spoken at length to Konami producer Tomm Hulett and WayForward Director Adam Tierney about the motivations behind the game's design.
Get your punching fists ready with the latest Double Dragon Neon gameplay
Double Dragon Neon is coming, y'all. Who's gonna stop the Lee brothers as they punch and kick everyone on their neverending path to destroy Abobo Corp.? No one, that's who! Okay, we just made up like, all of that story stuff. But still!
Double Dragon Neon starts dispensing high fives September 11
Double Dragon Neon, Wayforward's hilariously, garishly '80s-inspired brawler update, will bring Abobo to a new generation starting September 11, when publisher Majesco releases the game on PS3 in North America via PlayStation Network. The other half of the release date high five will take place the next day, when the XBLA version arrives, according to a post on the game's Facebook page. It'll cost $9.99.Double Dragon Neon is a new game that riffs on the style of the original Double Dragon, featuring "mixtape" powerups and multiplayer "bro-op," a pun that is acceptable because the protagonists are literally brothers.
Adventure Time 'collector's edition' not a GameStop exclusive
That sweet collector's edition package for Wayforward's Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?! – which includes a custom stylus, packaging and more for $40 – will not be exclusive to GameStop. A rep for the game retailer has confirmed as much with Joystiq, and says GameStop will also sell a standard package.The standard editions for Adventure Time on DS and 3DS are already listed on GameStop's site for $30 each. We expect to see the collector's edition popping up at other retailers soon enough.
First Adventure Time footage shows Giant Worm King, Cosmic Owl, promise
We're big fans of Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time series around these parts, what with its perfect blend of humor and mysticism and child-like wonderment and everything. In fact, Ward's vision of our magical post-apocalyptic future in the Land of Ooo is so unique and tonally specific, it's been hard to believe that WayForward could properly capture that essence.After seeing this footage of Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!, however, we're starting to feel a little better about it. The action appears distinctly Zelda II-ish, with Jake the Dog and Finn the Human navigating top-down overworlds and side-scrolling sections. Hopefully this trend of reassurance continues as we approach the game's fall 2012 release window.
Adventure Time 'collector's edition' spotted
A Collector's Edition of Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?! has popped up over at GameStop, presumably as a retailer exclusive – we're checking on that. Both the 3DS and DS version toss in a custom stylus shaped like Finn's sword, Land of Ooo poster, steelbook packaging made to look like the Enchiridion (the handbook Finn is always lugging around) and an art book.It's a pretty significant package for $39.99. We've also inquired about a regular version, one that could possibly be cheaper and void of less awesome stuff.
Mighty Switch Force going HD as a Wii U download
WayForward's Mighty Switch Force is making the mighty switch to Wii U, according to the latest issue of Nintendo Power (preview here). Mighty Switch Force HD is the same game released on 3DS – with the bonus levels added in a recent update – but remade and redrawn in high resolution for the Wii U's HD output.The WiiPad will be used to display the location of each of the fugitives you're hunting down, just as the touchscreen does on the 3DS version. "When roaming without a TV," WayForward creative director Matt Bozon told Nintendo Power, "a smaller onscreen compass points the way. While this is admittedly not a groundbreaking use of the second screen, it does give the player a few very handy options."Here it is: the very first 3DS to Wii U remake. We expect to see plenty of these in the future.
Seen@E3: Adventure, it is time for it
I don't know what Adventure Time is, but my compatriots at Joystiq have led me to believe it's quite popular. Here is a giant inflatable balloon of it, as seen in the South Hall of E3 2012.
Amazon shelves Silent Hill: Book of Memories until October
WayForward's strange top-down multiplayer Vita game Silent Hill: Book of Memories appears to have been delayed again, with Amazon changing the release date from May 31 to the distant (but thematically appropriate) October 31. Other retailers don't yet agree: GameStop says May 22, and GameFly has a terrifying "TBD" date.At least Amazon's $5 credit offer is active, if you pre-order the game in advance of its eventual release. And in other sort of good news, the soundtrack was released last month, so you can listen to that while you wait. We're checking with Konami for an accurate release window.%Gallery-155350%
Fall 2012 is Adventure Time on 3DS and DS
"Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?" asks the cover of WayForward's Adventure Time game. The answer, it seems, is to build a Garbage Princess, which Finn and Jake have to then rescue for some reason. Maybe they just want to beat up the Ice King again.D3Publisher officially announced the game today, announcing plans to release both DS and 3DS versions this fall. Players will get to control both Finn and Jake through "a unique action-adventure experience" designed in collaboration with Pendleton Ward, creator of the show. D3 has yet to release any screens, but we'll be sure to let you know when you can see the garbage for yourself.%Gallery-154895%
Double Dragon Neon flickers with signs of life
The first time I laid my hands on Double Dragon Neon, I was not impressed. The bright '80s colors weren't doing it for me. The character models for protagonists Jimmy and Billy looked hunched and unnatural. Their attacks were stilted and limited. The enemy designs were silly and altogether over the top.The second time I played it, however, I slipped on a pair of headphones and something happened. The classic Double Dragon music washed over me, reworked with 80s synth and electric guitar, and I saw something I hadn't noticed before: potential.%Gallery-152707%
WayForward adds a dose of Neon to Double Dragon for XBLA and PSN
Somehow, when we weren't looking, Majesco got hold of the Double Dragon franchise, and then turned it over to its Bloodrayne Betrayal partner WayForward Technologies. The result is Double Dragon: Neon, a side-scrolling brawler in a totally '80s setting.This time, twins Billy and Jimmy Lee are fighting to save Marian from "Skullmageddon," who, judging from concept art, has an army of wizards, cyborg police, and Linda. It's scheduled for release on PSN (for PS3) and XBLA this July. Is "downloadable, high-definition 2D franchise revival from WayForward and Majesco" going to become an annual summer tradition? We'd be okay with that.
Wayforward working on Adventure Time DS game
Mathematical! There's going to be a DS game based on Cartoon Network's surreal Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. Details are few, but weird animated GIFs are numerous, thanks to Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward, who tweeted the news with a series of DS-related drawings. You should go look at all of those.While posting these great images, Ward also revealed that the "sweet sweet DS game, being made at WayForward Technologies, will come out later this year." We're contacting WayForward to learn more, but we can already declare this news rhombus.
